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Home›General›Trying to be truthful about Arsene Wenger

Trying to be truthful about Arsene Wenger

By Michael Price
March 7, 2013
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The conversation about Arsene Wenger and his current status with Arsenal is as varied as ever. The lack of luster from this current Arsenal squad has brought in to question his standing as Arsenal manager and whether or not he should stay or go. It has also brought out nastiness in some folks who want nothing more than for him to get sacked yesterday.

As is with everything Arsenal these days the tenure of Arsene Wenger is more nuanced and requires some truthful introspection.

Let’s try and make sure we are straight on a few things:

Without a doubt Arsene Wenger is currently the greatest Arsenal manager and presided over an era of success that was amazing for this club. Yes, his current run of 8 years without a trophy is now longer than any duration between trophies for any manager who managed before him. And yes, on the surface his current side are on course to be the worst squad in his 16 year tenure.

But the fallacy that Arsene’s success as manager were in some way inherited are contrived and at best misleading. Sure the back four that were at the club were there when he got there and they were arguably one of the best English defenses ever. But when some of those players were looking at the twilight of their careers Arsene came in changed their training style, their diet and other areas and extended their playing careers. It is no small fact that many of those “inherited players” still proudly stand by their former manager.

Additionally, it wasn’t too long before Arsene would put his stamp on the club. While Dennis Bergkamp came in via the Bruce Rioch era, had it not been for Arsene Wenger and his changing Arsenal from a defensive, route 1 club to the free flowing club they were, Dennis likely wouldn’t have realized his full potential at the club and may have been off before he was. The two incidents – Dennis’ signing and Wenger’s assuming the managerial position would change Arsenal for the better.

Wenger is also regarded as changing the way clubs operated. He changed the way the club trained, removed negative influences like cigarettes, beer and bad food from the club and changed the overall attitude and approach of football health in the English game.  He is also regarded for developing and expanding the scope of scouts through out Europe to unearth talent that most English teams wouldn’t have their eyes on.

It is that change that lead him to find the likes of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Bobby Pires and others. With the continental expansion of talent to Arsenal, other teams followed suit and soon the excitement of the Premier League was due to the many international talents brought in. All because of Arsene Wenger.

Aside from his changing the game in England his changes had an amazing affect on Arsenal which had grown stagnant under the previous regimes. A year after taking charge he would win the double – only it’s 2nd in club history – coming back from 12 points behind Manchester United to win the league. He would win the double again in 01-02. The height of his team’s success was the 2003-2004 season when Arsenal went an entire 49 games unbeaten in the league. The last trophy of course was that 2005 FA Cup on the foot of Patrick Vieira’s last kick as an Arsenal player.

So why this walk down memory lane? Arsene Wenger hardly needs defending of his record. It does truly speak for itself. However, the question now has to be asked is that record tarnished because of the run of the last 8 years.

There have been near misses like 07-08 when the mental fortitude of his side let both United and Chelsea overhaul the Gunners. The 10-11 season might have ended better had Arsenal not lost itself in the Carling Cup final to Birmingham and subsequently capitulated in all other competitions.

And then there is the statistic – 16 years in the top 4 of the league. Not a shabby achievement. But the worrying thing is that since 2010-2011 and maybe slightly before, the worrying trend of poor or abject performances by Arsenal have lead many to question if Arsenal will ever win silverware again under Arsene Wenger.

Now comes the part people may not like – IT’S A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK.

Arsene was a revolutionary when he came into the English game. There is no denying that. But since he set English football on its head many of the clubs have caught up.  No longer are Arsenal conjuring up delightful nuggets of unheard of players it’s the likes of Swansea with Michu and a whole slew of other clubs. The platform for scouting Europe that was once the exclusive playground of Arsenal has now been overrun by pretty much every other club in England.

Diet and exercise, analysis of players strength and playing attributes are now part and parcel of every club.

And while England has moved forward, the man responsible for it all – hasn’t. And therein lies the problem.  As much as Arsene Wenger has brought to England he has failed to keep moving forward. The innovation he brought to the game has now eclipsed him and his team is suffering for it.

Wenger seems hard set in his ways telling us repeatedly that he has over 30 years experience in management and knows what’s best. I worry about anyone who constantly needs to tell us how long they have been doing something. It cries of a need to validate themselves amongst the evidence of major issues.

30 years experience is impressive but somehow that 30 years experience seemed to come full stop at about year 23. The lack of ability to change with the game has been an obvious glowing flaw in a man with such a strong CV.

And the game has changed. Teams prepare differently. There is strategic decisions on approaches to a game made before a team even takes the pitch.  Arsene alarmed many when asked if he would prepare his team to play against Tottenham and their wonder kid Gareth Bale. His reply was that Arsenal never prepare for an opponent and only focus on playing their game.

It was either a point of gamesmanship or a colossal blunder. The problem with just playing your game is that in this modern era, your opponent is planning on you playing your game. That’s the way of it. You hear it all the time, video preparation and the like are being used to allow teams to gain one up on each other. But if Arsene Wenger is to be believed that is likely not happening as Arsenal are not preparing for their opposition.

Another worrying trend is that it seems that Wenger’s style of management and interactions with individual players is no longer able to cajole the best out of players. When Wenger came into the game, it was an era of individual and team accountability. Each team member was focused on ensuring they were all playing for the badge, playing for the cause and playing for each other.

Wenger’s fatherly manner was ideally suited to this era as it allowed him to nurture and develop talents and gracefully allow players edging towards the end of their playing days to exit in style. He didn’t have to worry about policing players who slacked. Players on the pitch did that. Wenger didn’t need a “blow dryer” speech, the likes of Adams, Vieira, Henry and others did that.

But the era of players playing for a club and their teammates is gone. It’s dead. This is now an era of individuality – what’s in it for me. Players are willing to jump ship at the next big contract, club loyalties be damned. And as such they no longer care about each other. They are held together by strong tyrannical (to an extent) personalities that hold players to the fire if they fail to perform.  They praise when it is warranted, extend fatherly advice when its needed but when the rod is needed to get the self-centered bastards to perform, they do it.

The personality of manager today has to be less father and more in the style of tyrannical teacher. In an era when players only care about themselves being their “friend” or “father” is not going to get the best out of a player on a consistent basis.

Throw in the added complexities of financial doping to the game and Arsene Wenger is behind – maddeningly behind the current times.

Wenger isn’t a bad manager. You don’t enjoy so much success for so long by being a bad manager. What is possible and in my opinion, more true is that the game has changed and Wenger, sadly hasn’t changed with it. Wenger holds on to a romantic vision of football that in the current times no longer exists.

Wenger believes his ways will win out. We want to believe it with him. Because who can ever deny the plentiful memories he has given us. We want our legends to always remain the vision they are to us. Wenger’s enduring image to me is the smile on his face, hands lofted over his head, as he was adored by the Highbury crowd in 2004. I never want to remember Wenger any other way than that.

It is in my opinion the key reason why so many are argumentative about Wenger’s departure. We can’t envisage Wenger in an acrimonious departure. Others have already separated themselves from Wenger and are keen for a new start. The two are obviously going to clash. And that is where we find ourselves.

Wenger was always supposed to live in a blaze of Glory, held highly above his players and praised from the supporters. As the negativity increases it only looks like a departure nobody will ever be proud or happy of.

Where you stand on Wenger is your own opinion. Stay or go. I’ve made my decision and it’s mine. It my opinion the game has moved on and Wenger has stayed behind. His failure to change has damaged a club he had so much to do with and sadly, I see no other way out of this spiral then the retirement of Arsene Wenger at the end of the season.

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27 comments

  1. highburyterracesteve 11 March, 2013 at 12:39 Log in to Reply

    Geezus, this place has gone dead. Did Arsenal win a match or something?…. Maybe nobody reads these comments and it’s all on the twitter. That’s kinda how it seems to me. If you don’t have a blog or go on each others’ podcasts I guess yoo ain’t poo….

    Shouldn’t we be celebrating these “good” Arsenal moments? You know, weekends when we DON’T play…. For the “supporter” the results look OK: Spurs dropping points and Chelsea having to go to a replay with United. Doomers might suggest that Liverpool are now right on our butts….

    Staying on topic, I agree with josh (below) about the difference between ideas and plans. I like observing Arsene because he has ideas and actually puts them into play. Youth and Francophone cheap players were the flavor back at the start of the desert years and it was quite a treat watching the likes of Eboue and Song and Diaby being all nonchalant while Denilson worked his pants off trying to pass the ball sideways, Now we’ve got Jenkinson and Ramsey (and Ox-Cham, if he ever plays again) huffing and puffing along with a pack of aging Spaniards….. Hmmmmm….. “Ideas” are fine but it’s important to pick players who can put the ball in the net (or keep it out of ours)…. Or maybe not, if the plan is only about the future….

    Like josh suggests (in far more pithy fashion….) hoarding money (it appears) is what defines our future. In that regard building the stadium is a fine thing. We’ve got statues (history) and keeping Arsenal in Islington and a safe walk from from New Labour headquarters in Barnsbury, should keep things nice and upscale and it’s fun for us tourists. Spending wisely seems fine too. Long contracts for our “British Core” (in a socialist style?–some of these boys are hardly proven….) makes sense if Chelsea and City are gonna need homegrowns down the road. Look at all the good money Villa made selling off Milner and Young and Barry…. Interesting how both clubs (us and Villa) are in exciting relegation battles….Martin O’Neill (another Scottish manager), didn’t like the financial plans of Villa’s American owner. Maybe he’s ready to come to work for Kroenke…. For me, if we can’t have a little more fun in the present, it would be nice if we could see a bit more of a plan (like some delegation within management) which looked promising for the years ahead. I’m not sure I want to see Wenger go all “Portrait of Dorian Gray” for too much longer and the opposite (actually triumphant, with hands on a trophy, in an open top bus cruising Upper Street….) seems a pipe dream requiring a very large pipe….

    Anyhow, just curious if anybody has any ideas for the future (you know, who should replace our lost-the-plot fellow….) or thoughts about ANYTHING…. Guess I just need to bide my time until our next humiliation (Wednesday in Germany? Saturday in Wales?) and, like Old Faithful, the geysers will spout again….

    Cheers, and happy Monday…..

    • stag133 11 March, 2013 at 14:15 Log in to Reply

      Nobody cares. We are not relevant.

      Bayern to skull drag us Wednesday… I’ll do my best to miss it.

      Happy days.

      • highburyterracesteve 11 March, 2013 at 16:38 Log in to Reply

        In truth, I fear you’re not so far off the mark…. At least you use the pronoun “we”….so that I know I’m not alone….

        Like I say, Happy Monday….

        • stag133 12 March, 2013 at 02:41

          Far off? its a BULLSEYE.
          Once we get mauled on Wednesday, we’ll be playing ONLY for Wenger’s Trophy.
          Sorry Arsene… most of the masses, just aren’t buying your BS any more.

          March Madness starting up soon… Hockey in high gear… baseball 3 weeks away.

          Why waste time watching Arsenal play for fictitious trophies… and that’s just me, taking time out of my day to watch… imagine having to pay the highest ticket prices and concessions at the stadium, to watch that drivel?

          There’s going to be a LOT of empty seats… during this run in…

  2. highburyterracesteve 9 March, 2013 at 15:17 Log in to Reply

    Up early and just saw the end of Everton and Wigan’s FA cup quarterfinal. Tim Howard and Ryo Miyachi look like they picked up serious injuries….And, Wigan win 3-nil (at Goodison)….

    Hopefully we can do better than that (or than we did last season) when Wigan come to visit. Again, I’d ask the DAG why he’s so down on Martinez as a potential replacement at Arsenal. To me he seems young, talented and has shown good commitment to his projects. He’s also Spanish, which seems the new (and superior) market for up and coming players (now that Arsene and Alan Pardew and PSG) have hoovered up all the French/Francophone talent….

    But that’s just me and plenty of folks prefer the Scottish types (Moyes, Lambert if Villa goes down, Owen Coyle….) or all the usual suspects or “bigger” names. Should we contrive to pay a Capello (or a Scolari or a Hiddink) 10 million pounds/year (200K/week) to revamp our squad? It seems to me that working at an English club (“in-crisis”) might be too much work for those on the International team merry-go-round, no matter what the salary…..

    Like I say below, I think Arsene is here as long as he wants to be, but if you (the DAG, the comment writers…) say he must go, who should come in? Inquiring minds and all that…. Cheers!

  3. joshuad 8 March, 2013 at 19:37 Log in to Reply

    arsenal have embarked on a voyage that only arsene wenger seems to know the way to the promised land. it’s troublesome because he seems to have sold his idea to the money people at the club but there’s seems to be no clear plan or direction. there is a difference between having an idea and having a plan.

  4. crispen 8 March, 2013 at 10:59 Log in to Reply

    Well said Eddie. Wenger is the man!!!

    • stag133 8 March, 2013 at 18:24 Log in to Reply

      yes. the man for what, I’m not sure… let him be the man someplace else. 8 years of futility is not acceptable at any “big club” accept Arsenal… where 4th place is a trophy, and profit is the ambition.

  5. highburyterracesteve 8 March, 2013 at 05:44 Log in to Reply

    My comments below notwithstanding, it’s shocking how poorly this season has gone. There’s just nothing to get excited about. I was at the Newcastle match (our best of the year?) and it was the most unconvincing 4 goal victory (7 goal tally) imaginable. Most fans thought Theo Walcott was saying goodbye as he saluted the crowd with the game ball. Was Indulging his contract demands the right move? Certainly he has not been able to continue in that vein, but (I guess) it allowed AW to “keep the powder dry” in the January window (with the exception of the emergency Nacho buy).

    Putting Theo on big money and replacing Santos (at a premium) are just two of the many iffy moves that Arsene seems to be making. Longer term he has gotten worse and worse in his transfer choices (Arshavin, Gervinho? Is Poldoski hurt? Will Giroud ever score a goal?). The choice of Vermaelen as Captain has been an unmitigated disaster. With the exception of Wilshere, sticking with the crocks (Diaby, Sicky, Ramsey) has been unrewarding. I guess signing Jack to a long term deal will prevent him from doing an RVP….

    Personally, I don’t worry about the Bale comment (because, as we know, AW lies….) but the tactical rigidity and conservatism with team sheets seems to only gets worse. In the matches themselves there are NO bold moves. He won’t sub players into matches when we’re holding a result or looking threatening chasing one. Meanwhile, fringe players are under enormous pressure to perform and when they fail (I’m thinking Ox-Cham in the Blackburn match) that’s it. We SHOULD be doing better but the lack of confidence (to answer the unrealistic expectations) transfers through the squad and is unrelenting. In many ways you can blame the manager, but if just a player or two stepped up we might be OK. Luckily there’s still plenty to play for and stranger things have happened. In the meantime, those boys are mighty lucky that AW is taking all the heat….

    For me, the quote which really tells the story is the one where he said that 3rd was the maximum he would’ve expected out of last season’s squad. Then we sell the two biggest contributors…. He IS the club and he’s playing a long-term game predicated on selling to the few clubs that just don’t care. It hasn’t paid off yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. We’re suffering mightily (and will continue to do so, esp. if people cannot adjust expectations) but I’m not sure how to make it better. All signs point to AW seeing out his contract with the goal (I think) of getting the club on an upward trajectory (in terms of on-pitch results) without sacrificing its long term financial health. Not very exciting (at all!) but wishing for more seems just that….

  6. highburyterracesteve 8 March, 2013 at 05:11 Log in to Reply

    It’s all fine and good to weigh in with AW should go for x reasons, despite y reasons, and with a legacy of z, etc., etc., etc., but the real question is who will come in and will it do any good? I can appreciate those who are just sick of the man and tired of the downward trend of the on-field product and just want change for the sake of change. I don’t see it happening, however. Who would even want the job? The shadow of Arsene is too long. AND there’s no structure at the club for succession, so it seems up to the man himself….

    By taking over every area of management (to the point of picking Kroenke as the owner to take the club into the big $$ era) the on-field product has been neglected. As kiwi (and tons of others) has said, it doesn’t work. Still, pretending that the situation is anything other than it is is make believe. Arsene will see out his contract and likely, if the team is on an upward trajectory, be offered another. In other words, even if one could (italics) change managers, good luck getting him (or her, ha ha….) to buy Rooney or Falcao. While we’re at it, let’s get Messi and Ronaldo…. AW has set the aircraft carrier in motion and it will not change direction in any significant manner. Personally,I’d rather watch the man himself sail the stormy seas and take on the sharks (and warships….) attacking from all sides. For me, it makes for a more compelling drama. Tragedy requires a tragic hero….

    And then there’s always the hope that things might start looking up. Hope is not a plan, I’ve been told, but it seems the most logical path if you support the Arsenal….

  7. The BearMan 8 March, 2013 at 05:02 Log in to Reply

    Wenger is standing to close to his squad to pin-point individual areas of weaknesses. I personally believe he is still not able to identify the mistakes in our defence, hence he has never been able to addressed it. Great mangers will surround themselves with excellent coaches all skilled in a particular area of the game. One individual can never successfully achieve this.

    What you fail to note in your blog: Arsenal being used as the development and training ground for French football.

  8. Bum 8 March, 2013 at 01:19 Log in to Reply

    The game has changed!
    THE GAME HAS CHANGED!
    The G A M E has C H A N G E D!!
    How has it changed?
    Money? Wenger is 15th in the net spend list of the league yet always finishes 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th. (When the constraints are lifted….)
    Coaching?! Which players have played better since leaving his tutelage?

  9. Bum 8 March, 2013 at 01:12 Log in to Reply

    Great research, a tongue-in-cheek comment at a press conference is the crux of your argument. How about stats instead of nonsense? Wenger is the best performing manager within the context of the financial constraints. Overall, only Ferguson performs better in the league. Considering the fact that the financial constraints would exist no matter what, would you like to formulate better arguments or just carry on being a dummy?

  10. William 8 March, 2013 at 00:03 Log in to Reply

    Fully agree with Danny Wenger shd have been axed long ago.The latest is he is being linked with some out of contract African player.
    His obsession with kids is costing the gunners dearly. Allied to his one dimensional style,no wonder the gunners can’t win. I believe this could be the season when the gunners will finish outside the top 4 although he could still surprise us. It;s along shot.

  11. Kiwi 7 March, 2013 at 22:49 Log in to Reply

    Mourinho is the greatest football manager and best tactician in the world today – if your life depended on a manager winning a single game, a tie, or a title he’d be the ‘go to’ guy.

    Sure, Pep fashioned a beautiful über successful team, Ferguson is a metronome of winning consistency over decades, but when it comes to delivering results in a very specific way no one surpasses Mourinho. No one.

    This season has seen him battered by the politics at Real, he looked on the ropes, he looked physically tired and jaded, then a rapid fire combination of punches saw Real defeat the arch-enemy Barça twice and then knocking out Manchester United and the one manager he seems to truly admire.

    Credit where it’s due. He’s the man.

    …contrast Wenger.

    • highburyterracesteve 8 March, 2013 at 04:33 Log in to Reply

      There were lots of Merengues where I was in Spain and nobody I talked with supported Mourinho. Nonetheless, I completely agree with your sentiment. Still, with expectations as they are, if he doesn’t get further than Barca in the CL, the Copa del Rey will be the tiniest consolation possible….

      What’s awesome about Mourinho is that he’s so completely dedicated to himself. He’s already gone from RM and he’s thumbing his nose at them for the treatment he’s gotten. I guess it’s possible (italics) that he could stay, just as Wenger might step down before his contract expires….

    • stag133 8 March, 2013 at 18:13 Log in to Reply

      Kiwi, I think very highly of Mourinho, but Ferguson is a better, more succussful manager, even at his age… I’d go with Ferguson over him.

  12. Kiwi 7 March, 2013 at 22:12 Log in to Reply

    On a more interesting topic.

    Fascinating to see Ferguson’s evolving attitude and use of Rooney. Rooney acted like a smuck toward United and Ferguson a while back with the contract and City saga. He was in a position of negotiating strength but acted in an undignified manner. Ferguson has a great nose for survival and success. He weighed up that he had to placate Rooney to maintain United’s competitiveness, but… he didn’t like it. No one has crossed Ferguson at United and won. It looked for a while like Rooney might. But no. Ferguson indulged him but used him and now is about to flick him. The biggest game of the season and you don’t play your biggest attacking asset? Can you see Barcelona not playing Messi or Real not playing Ronaldo? No way. Ferguson rubbed Rooney’s nose in it a little bit. I bet it felt good to him despite losing.

    I did say when Ferguson signed RvP that I thought it looked a little odd. RvP and Rooney… they’re both now focal players. When Van Persie was signed it signaled Fergusons intent but we all assumed Rooney was ok, too important, too young. Some stuff is simply about ego.

  13. Kiwi 7 March, 2013 at 21:56 Log in to Reply

    There now exists three groups of Arsenal fans. The first is those who have arrived at a similar conclusion to the one you express above Mike and perhaps even did so several years ago. This group has been through the cycle and see that Wenger is now more problem than solution for Arsenal and they’re generally tired and jaded with it all. The second group is of those like yourself who have now reached that point – but it’s still relatively fresh so it feels like a new state of enlightenment. And the last group is those who still believe (or want to believe) that Wenger is the best answer for the club.

    Many of the ‘mainstream’ Arsenal blogs have moved from the latter category to the middle category in recent months. Let’s call them fresh nonbelievers. You can sense a change in their tone. Positivity has been replaced with disappointment. The penny has dropped. So there change in outlook will inevitably colour the mainstream readership.

    Another point I’d challenge is this rush to acclaim Wenger as the greatest Arsenal manager ever. It’s almost as light-headed, sentimental and illogical a response as the clamour to affirm him for so long as still the best answer for Arsenal in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We need to cool a little. Wenger may be the best Arsenal manager depending on your criteria but it’s not as clearcut as peoples assert.

    Arsenal has had three great managers plus a very good one in George Allison. The three greats in period order are;
    1. Herbert Chapman the founding father of the club who dominated and shaped an entire era of English football,
    2. George Graham who realigned the club to success both domestically and in Europe and cleaned up a real lethargic mess, and
    3. Arsene Wenger who during the first half of his career created teams that won in real style and changed the playing style of the club.

    In terms of trophies per season George Graham was more successful. By overstaying and underperforming Wenger has sullied his record and now is judged more as a COO and not a footballing manager(coach). But there is a problem in bringing the COO dynamic in to the assessment, firstly, that is simply not his job and an unwanted distraction and conflict to the natural order, and secondly, we know even less about what he really does versus what others at the club do in this realm. So Wenger, as the high profile figure, appears to get a huge amount of credit rather vicariously – credit that is rightly due to the likes of Danny Fizman and David Dein.

    • highburyterracesteve 8 March, 2013 at 04:48 Log in to Reply

      I really appreciate the historical perspective here, but it all seems moot. For me it seems a bit silly to say AW should go, but, of course, people are free to do so and justify it however they want. Just as Ferguson and Mourinho (your comments above….) are incredible figures in the modern game, Arsene is right there with them. He’s made himself into the whole club, to the point of selecting the majority shareholder himself (!) Is Gazidis his boss? (I don’t think so). Is there a reason Kroenke would fire him? It’s corporate politics of the highest possible order and he is King. We’re all worried about on-field stuff and we freak out with each result but we’re fools–Look at me, I’m even excited about the run-in and battle to avoid CL relegation….None of it matters to the club–we’ve got the cash reserves to deal with it anyhow! Crazy sh*t, but there is….

  14. Danny 7 March, 2013 at 21:53 Log in to Reply

    As far as i am concerned , Wenger the control freak, should have been fired years ago. He is outdated dinosaur and we need fresh ideas plus also young blood on the board.

    To me he has totally neglected has been to do what is he paid to do, coach and to promote to win, not look at the clubs finances. That is the job for the board. Fire him!

    • Ray 7 March, 2013 at 22:31 Log in to Reply

      “he should’ve been fired years ago”
      Another idiotic comment from an idiot who is influenced by the tabloids or the parasite that is Stewart Robson. How many years ago exactly Danny? Three years ago when we were on the brink of winning the title but for RVP’s and Fabregas injury & Eduardo’s leg shatter? More years ago – when we were winning the Champions League final with 10 men to be pegged back in the last 12 mins with an offside equalizer? Or every year becasue we have achieved what Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea have spent over £500m trying to do, that is consistently finish in the Top 4?

      You’re an idiot.

      • Wardy 7 March, 2013 at 23:36 Log in to Reply

        well said!
        Having said that i do feel wenger has to go. He no longer has the fresh forward thinking ideas he had when he arrived. ( i think he is too stubborn to change/evolve) Fergie has managed to change why cant Wenger?
        His lack of tactical coaching in the modern era is totally baffling. Mourinho and fergie have shown many times over its not the brand of football you play that wins you trophies its how tactically astute you are as a manger that will define that.
        I will be forever grateful for what he has done for the club, but as we have seen over the years unless your a supporter football as a “business” holds no sentiment for things like that. Face it wenger is pretty harsh on players and wouldnt think twice about getting rid of players, he feels don’t have as much to offer the club as they once did. ala Eduardo. the fact that he only likes giving 30 year old 1 year rolling extensions.
        if wenger feels thats the right course of action surely the same would have to be said of him.

        • eddie 8 March, 2013 at 01:18

          Drogba was a Jose request while ranieri was still there .things happen behind the scenes .Dennis and Patrick were requested by wenger when he was only known by dein.he had a vision of what could be and it became.he still has that vision.shut up if u don’t know football

        • Tom 8 March, 2013 at 13:41

          Nice one Eddie,we will see AW renew his existing deal at the end of the season1

        • stag133 8 March, 2013 at 18:22

          so, if you don’t like Wenger and his misguided vision, shut up, you don’t know football. all the logic is really coming out now with the AKBers… Wenger island is growing smaller by the day.

      • stag133 8 March, 2013 at 18:18 Log in to Reply

        Ray. He’s not doing the job. It’s no longer even debatable. He had a great run.
        The club is not going in the right direction. How many years without a trophy is ok? 10? 15?
        You can do the name-calling, that’s classy… and make excuses for Wenger all you want…
        Top 4 is NOT A TROPHY!!!!!

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